It is one thing for an athlete to say they would like to play at a certain college, and it can be quite another for the school to want them.

Ernie Clement, who recently completed his junior season at Brighton, made sure there was a mutual interest between he and the baseball coaches at the University of Virginia.

The result is a partial scholarship to the Atlantic Coast Conference school, which Clement told Cavaliers coaches last weekend he would accept. Clement can sign a binding letter of intent in November.

“That was my dream school for awhile,” the 5-foot-11, 160-pound Brighton shortstop said. “My cousin (Abby Clement) went there, and she always talked about it.

“I’d been there once before. It’s in a great location, not too far away. Great school, great baseball.”

Area coaches voted Clement on to the Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester team after his sophomore year. This season, Clement was named the Monroe County Division II Co-Player of the Year after he had a .528 batting average – helped by no strikeouts – and drove in 23 runs for the Barons (15-5).

Clement played in a baseball camp on the Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Va. last year. Cavaliers coaches also had a chance to see Clement at a showcase tournament at the college earlier this month.

Radford University, another NCAA Division I school in Virginia, also offered a scholarship, according to Clement.

It is common for college baseball programs to divide their scholarships and disperse the aid among players. Clement said that his scholarship is about 30 percent of one at full-value, standard for position players.

“Unless you are a big-time pitcher, that is about the average,” Clement said. “The scholarship didn’t have an effect, I would have jumped at the opportunity to play there.

Allendale Columbia senior Matt van Niekerk was runner up at the 2011 public school state championships. DAVE BURBANK/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

“I received another offer. This was the best quality baseball. It was a no-brainer.”

Federation golf: The spring high school season is not over yet for a golfer in Section V.

Allendale Columbia senior Matt van Niekerk chose to play in the New York State Federation Championships at Bethpage Black on Long Island on June 9.

van Niekerk

When van Niekerk finished in a tie for third at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships earlier this month in Ithaca, he qualified for the Federation championship.

The Federation Championships include golfers from schools that are not members of the NYSPHSAA. There are six golfers from NYSPHSAA schools headed to Federation, including van Niekerk.

Golf tournament in Victor: The American Junior Golf Association has boys and girls tournaments at Ravenwood Golf Club, July 1-4.

Schmitt

Bothner

Here are the local players entered in each, beginning with the 35-player field for the girls: Jennifer Lee of Rochester, Brighton sophomore Sarah Bothner and two-time AGR Girls Player of the Year

Melissa Tylock is moving up in USA Track and Field, just like her older sister, Rachael.

Tylock

Tylock, a sophomore at Penfield, finished eighth in the 10K Race Walk on June 23 at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Iowa.

Tylock’s time of 59 minutes, 53,02 seconds is the new school record at Penfield. The Monroe County 1,500-meter league champion placed fourth in the Indoor Track Federation State Championships in February and was selected to the Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester girls team.

Monroe wrestling moved: Wrestling coaches talked for years about a move to an earlier date for the Monroe County Championships.

One of the hold-ups was the selection of a weekend that did not conflict with a league member’s tournament, some of which are more than 20 years old.

The coaches believe they have found suitable dates, this year Dec. 20-21, and believe that conflicts with other tournaments can be avoided for at least a year or two. Monroe County athletic directors approved the shift from mid- to late January to the third weekend in December last month.

“Because of the way tournaments fell it was an easy fix,” Fairport coach Michael Kohl said. “You can always move it back.

“I think that it’s a good try, a good idea.”

Coaches sidelined wrestlers during recent Monroe County tournaments for rest and to cut down the number of matchups against the same opponent during the postseason. There were instances that two wrestlers in a weight class would meet in the Monroe County tournament, the following week or two at class sectionals and then SuperSectionals, Section V’s qualifier for the state tournament.

The Monroe County Championships date back to the 1960s, and were held in December before, according to Brockport athletic director and former Section V wrestling coordinator Chris Bourne.

Burke

Burke’s run official: It has been confirmed that Rush-Henrietta’s Mickey Burke recently ran the third-fastest 3,200-meter run in Section V history during the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

When converted, Burke’s time of 9 minutes and 30/100ths of a second is 8:57.17 for the 3,200,. The timing of the run is also pretty good, as it came just weeks before the start of a period of direct college recruiting.

Burke, a junior, finished fourth in the two-mile race in Greensboro, N.C., on June 15, which earned him All-America honors at his first outdoor nationals.

Keith Pease celebrated his birthday on May 31, the day of The Meet of Champions, Section V’s qualifier for the high school state track and field championships.

Pease, a senior at Greece Athena, turned 18 years old.

His victory in the Division I 1,600 that night at Waterloo was in 4 minutes, 17.20 seconds and advanced him to the outdoor state meet.

Greece Athena senior Keith Pease, on the right, went after his school's 800-meter record during the Section V Class AA/A Championships. ADRIAN KRAUS/PHOTOGRAPHER

“I was just going for the win,” Pease said. “This is my first outdoor state meet.

“Qualifying for states outdoors for some reason is more difficult, much more difficult.”

Pease is in, and will take part in two events at the state meet, June 7-8 in Middletown, Orange County. He is also a member of Greece Athena’s 1,600 or 4×400 relay.

As a sophomore, Pease was cut from the Athena JV basketball team and gave track and field a try. Pease has finished fourth and sixth in the 1,600 at the last two indoor state meets. He qualified to run at the New Balance nationals this past winter, where he came in 16th in the mile.

The next place Pease will run after he graduates from Athena this month is Roberts Wesleyan College in Chili.

“I’m getting all this stuff like ‘Why are you going there, they are not good,” Pease said. “Well, they are going to be good.”

She’s back: Isabel Hirtelen-Booker of the Harley-Allendale Columbia

Isabel "Izzy'' Hirtelen-Booker attempts to become a four-time Division II public school state champion in the 100 hurdles June 7-8 in Middletown, Orange County. ADRIAN KRAUS/PHOTOGRAPHER

team will attempt to win her fourth consecutive Division II state championship in the 100 hurdles.

Hirtelen-Booker, a senior at the Harley School and a resident of Brighton, has become a state champion without the momentum from an indoor season. Harley-Allendale Columbia does not have an indoor team, so the 2012 All-Greater Rochester Track and Field female athlete of the year played volleyball instead.

There is no track at The Harley School or Allendale-Columbia either.

One last time: If you count the cross country and indoor track seasons, this is the 10th state championship Penfield distance runner Katie Lembo will compete in.

Lembo qualified for her third outdoor state championships in the Division I 1,500 and 3,000. There’s probably more state meets in Lembo’s future. She is a junior.

“Days when we don’t have a formal training, she’s off running with her mom (Jackie),’’ Penfield coach Dave Hennessey said.

Award: East High is this year’s recipient of The Genesee Valley Certified Officials of Track and Field’s Sportsmanship Award in the Rochester City Athletic Conference.

Two victories last week, including a 4-1 triumph over Webster Thomas, propelled Pittsford back to the top of the final Section V hockey poll of the regular season.

The Panthers (14-3-1), who were also ranked first two weeks ago, received 112 points and five of the 12 first-place votes cast. Pittsford plays Penfield on Thursday night and No. 2 Fairport (15-4) on Saturday in a game that will have a heavy impact on the seedings for the upcoming Section V Class A Tournament.

The win over Thomas was Steve Thering’s 100th as varsity coach of the Panthers.

The Red Raiders moved up three spots from No. 5 last week, receiving three first-place votes and registering 92 points. McQuaid (13-5-1), last week’s No. 1, received four first-place votes and totaled 84 points.

Here are the dates for the Section V Championships, plus the third of four team rankings. The next set of rankings come after sectionals, where admission is $4 at each diving session and $5 each round of swimming:

When Greece Olympia senior Desmond Mobley launched himself into a long jump pit at The College at Brockport last weekend, he set the Section V indoor track record at 24 feet-1 inch.

Mobley also produced his second performance of the season that is among the top 10 in the nation, according to a leaderboard compiled by MileSplit.com.

Greece Olympia senior Desmond Mobley set the Section V indoor track record with this long jump during the Trent Jackson Memorial Invitiational at the College at Brockport. KRIS J. MURANTE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Only Andre Jefferson, who competes with John Tyler in Tyler, Texas at 24-11 has a long jump further than Mobley’s best during the Trent Jackson Memorial Invitational inside Brockport’s Special Events Recreation Center.

Mobley and Le Roy junior Rubin Owens also are sixth on the MileSplit.com boys high jump leaderboard at 6-8.

Lembo

Penfield senior Katie Lembo ran what is the third-fastest 1,500 on Jan. 5 at 4:40.71. Here are more performances in the section that are top 10 on the milesplit.com national leaderboards:

There are at least 10 more athletes from Edison, Webster Thomas, Northeast/Northwest Prep, and others that have produced top 30 performances on the national leaderboard. You can find those lists at this link:

This is the 50th season of the Victor wrestling team, which is on the verge of its first Monroe County division title.

Victor, one of the Rochester area’s fastest-growing communities, is a member of the Monroe County league and again is a team to beat.

The Blue Devils (9-1 overall, 4-0 league) may not wait much longer for their next division title, either.

Two division wins gives Victor the Monroe County Division III title.

The Blue Devils’ next match is Wednesday, Jan. 9 at Victor, a league dual versus Brighton that will include a celebration of the team’s 50 years. Victor wrestles in a tournament at South Jefferson in Section III this weekend, then returns to the mat for a league dual against Honeoye Falls-Lima on Jan. 16. That is “Senior Night” at Victor.

The last three seasons ended with Victor as division runner-up.

Dylan Thireos, Victor’s 126-pound wrestler, gave the host Blue Devils a 34-33 win over Hilton during the Ahonen Duals final with a major decision.

Teams’ trip to California: The Pace Bootlegger volleyball club sent two teams to the Southern California Volleyball Association Junior Boys Invitational.

Christy Blough

The Rochester-based club’s 17-under team, made up mostly of high school juniors, finished in a tie for 17th-place out of 44 teams last weekend. Victor’s Brannan Perdicho, Fairport’s Ryan Sutherland, Fairport’s Mitchell Kennedy, Penfield’s Nick Denoncourt and Midlakes’ Junior Kemp helped the team sweep three matches during pool play.

The Webster Thomas and Pittsford hockey teams are holding fund-raisers at upcoming games.

The 5:30 p.m. “Honor Our Heroes” game vs. Victor at Webster Ice Arena on Jan. 11 will raise funds for CDS Monarch Warrior Salute Program. The Thomas Titans will wear camouflage jerseys to honor all service men and women, including EMTs and first-responders.

Pittsford’s 7 p.m. game on Feb. 2 against Thomas is its fourth annual “Pink The Rink,” game to benefit the Breast Cancer Coaliation of Rochester. Both teams will don special pink jerseys. For more information, go to www.pittsfordhockey.org.

— By Jeff DiVeronica

What’s next , Red Raiders?: Fairport, undefeated and motivated, topped its seventh opponent by double-digits when it defeated Bishop Kearney 59-45 on Jan. 3 to improve to 8-0.

The crowd of 1,392 fans probably was larger than the attendance at Fairport’s quarterfinal round exit from last season’s sectionals.

“It was a great win,” Fairport senior guard Brian Sortino said. “It was hyped all week. It’s probably one of the best atmospheres I’ve played in.”

The Red Raiders hardly have the look of a one-and-done team this winter.

“We had the potential to do this last year,” Fairport senior forward/guard Tyler LePore said.

Fairport nearly had four players score in double figures again, after LePore finished with nine points, all of which came on 3-pointers. Eli Jones (21.5 points per game), Alex Doche (14.5), Joe Masino (10.5) and Sortino (12.1) are Fairport’s leading scorers.

“We had the potential to do this last year,” LePore said. “This year, we’ve been together.”

Fairport’s games against Rush-Henrietta have a history as crowd magnets, too.

The Red Raiders could find themselves in front of another filled gymnasium at Fairport against Rush-Henrietta, 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Rush-Henrietta (5-1), also one-and-done in last season’s Section V Class AA1 Tournament after three sectional championships in four years, may be on its way back to form.

Fairport took over the No. 1 position in the Democrat and Chronicle‘s large schools boys basketball poll just before its win over No. 2 Bishop Kearney (2-3), the previous local top-ranked team.

Jeff DiVeronica has covered Section V for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1994. A native of Canastota, N.Y., where he played soccer, basketball and baseball, “Devo” began his career at the Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette before returning to Rochester in 1993. The St. John Fisher College graduate also covers the Rochester Rhinos soccer team and Syracuse University basketball. He founded the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show, which airs Saturdays at noon on WHTK-AM (1280), in 2003. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.Follow:@RocDevo

James Johnson has covered Section V for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996. The St. John Fisher College and Edison graduate also has provided features and game stories tied to NASCAR, professional golf, baseball, hockey, boxing and tennis. His career began in 1995 at the Press-Sun Bulletin in Binghamton, where he helped cover Section IV high school sports. E-mail James at jamesj@DemocratandChronicle.com.Follow:@jjDandC